Ta Da!!!

I'm standing in front of my freezer door just waiting for a full cooked meal to jump out at me & say "Ta Da...Bon appetite".  Yeah, that's gonna happen, in my dreams.  Wouldn't that be wonderful?  You can't fault a girl for dreaming.

I'm on the phone with my friend, Amy, and we're chatting, she's feeding her daughter some bread, we're talking about what to cook for dinner & of course I haven't even thought about it at all. 

So back to the freezer.  I see chicken...it's always good & good for you.  I'll poach it, because you can put frozen chicken in a boiler (covered with water, that's for those people who need directions to boil water) & let it sit for hours if you need it to on low or med-low.  Ok, so poached chicken is not to tasty by itself....  I bought fire-roasted tomatoes from the grocery store the other day, check for ingredient #2.  My mind starts whirring & it's all coming together, and then I remember, YIKES, I have to go pick-up Elizabeth from dance.  Leave the chicken on the stove on low, Henry reading for school, Hop doing what ever he does to wind down after he gets home from school & football & I go get Elizabeth. 

The good thing is, by the time I get home, the chicken is about finished, so I can start on the main part of the dish.  3 of the 4 kiddos are hungry, the picky one has gone to BBQ the Bucs at the high school & is texting me literally every other minute.  Henry is done with his homework & wants to watch the School House Rock videos we have on iTunes...I love School House Rock.  I loved it as a kid & love it even more as an adult.  We're singing, I'm cooking, Elizabeth is doing her homework, and all is right with the world.  Both Hopsons, big & little, even came in & started singing.  I love it when peace reigns in the house.  It makes the nights so pleasant & me a very happy mommy.  You know what they say about momma being happy...

Dinner was gobbled up, and some went back for seconds!  I had a blast cooking dinner; singing with my children; all the homework is finished; football is on & I'm going to try to stop my mind. (it's been whirring since 4am)  I love those ordinary days.  May we be blessed with many of them.  :)

I don't have a name for this recipe.  It's a tweak of a recipe I  think I saw on Rachel Ray, I don't remember.  I'm going to call it Ta Da...Bon Appetite!

Y'all be blessed beyond measure,
~ashley

Just Call me Nuts

Hey MOJ, I haven't posted in a while... 'tis the season.  I've been hauling children hither & yon since I last posted.  It's funny how I thought things would get easier when they all started big school.  Um, yeah, that's not true at all, I just don't have any down time with them any more.  Well, that's not totally true, I have a precious few hours each week. 

Of course, I'm going to use those hours to try & stuff some healthy food down their tummies, and have a little quality time before the MASSIVE amounts of studying must resume.  We're up to our ears in homework.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, my children are getting a wonderful education, I just don't know if I could graduate from my alma mater now.  They are learning stuff I learned in college...yikes.

Just now Hop left to go to Saturday morning workouts for football...it's 6:48 am on a Saturday.  It makes me sleepy.  Or sleepier anyway, especially during carpool...have you ever fallen asleep during carpool, I have, it's another story for another time, funny though.

I am always on the lookout for easy, healthy, and good things to cook.  I had a friend from church tell me the next time I go to Taziki's (it's a yummy Greek restaurant here) to get the Friday Special.  It's so popular it's served Friday-Sunday.  Well, I happened to be there on a Friday a few weeks ago & decide to take her advice & order it...I am sooo glad I did!  Can I tell you how wonderfully delicious it was?  Oh my, I could have eaten it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  I dreamed about it & could taste it in my dream.

Last Wednesday rolls around, which is a down day for the fam.  (I say that very loosely, it's the closest thing we have to a down day...I know  lot of you can relate.)  I know what I'm making for dinner...you got it, the Friday special.  It's too good to have to wait until Friday to eat it.  While I was cooking the children kept coming in & asking what we were having, I told them it was happiness on a plate.  Of course they looked at me like I had lost my mind.  If I have, it's their fault.  :)

Can I tell you the Friday special looks pretty on a plate.  My mom always said presentation is important, and not only does this dish taste divine, it presents well.  My mom would be proud.  I received RAVE reviews from the FS.  I had it done in 30 minutes, it is a healthy meal, and all the children cleaned their plates (some went back for seconds), and they all asked me to cook it again.  We'll put the Friday Special in the W column, and I will do the Victory dance, which my children promptly tell me I look stupid doing & to please quit embarrassing them.  (that last part didn't happen, but it could have.)

I have made mental notes on how to make the Friday Special taste better, and it calls for planning ahead, but it will be worth it, but if I don't no biggie, it will still taste wonderful.  I am going to give you my tweaked version, but know it makes a lot.  Make sure you do your own victory dance when you're done too.  It's always fun to embarrass your children.  :)

Y'all be blessed beyond measure,
~ashley

Special Ingredient

On one of my last posting I gave a recipe for homemade pizza.  I forgot to tell you that you can't get the Chef Paul Prudhomme's Herbal Pizza & Pasta Magic in the grocery store.  (or at least the ones around my house.)  Chef Paul does have a website where you can order it.   Once you use it, you will always want it on your pizza.  It is that good! 

Y'all be blessed beyond measure

Bubble Bubble Toil & Trouble

I keep wondering where June went.  It is so hot in Alabama right now I bet I could cook chocolate chip cookies in my car.  (For some reason I've always wanted to try it.  I may do it next week.)  We skipped right over June & have August weather.  It makes me want to wilt.  I am extremely cold natured, but if I get just a little warm I will start sweating.  Yes, I am a walking contradiction!

I do love summer though because of all the fresh fruits & veggies, and farmer Ted (this is what I call Hopson when his garden is in full bloom) has his garden stocked with them.  But when it's this hot, who wants to spend anytime in a hot kitchen?  I do because all 4 kiddos are home 24/7 & they are hungry!  (and since I have my new cook top, even though the down draft vent is not hooked-up, I don't have an excuse not to cook.) 

Last night I was trying to think of something very yummy, but not too hot to eat.  For some reason in the summer my kids love tuna with a side of mac & cheese.  We didn't have that for dinner, but it's just something they love.  Ok, that was totally unrelated to this posting, but they do eat it almost everyday in the summer.  (no eggs in the tuna, just a little mayo & a ton of dill pickle relish.  sooo good!!!)

I decided on a pasta bar for dinner.  I had some homemade marinara in the fridge I made last week b/c the children were on a homemade pizza binge, so I browned some hamburger meat and onions to make that a meat sauce.  I made some creamy pesto, and a garlic butter sauce too.  There were 3 different kinds of pasta to choose from & they could just carb themselves out.  I think they were extremely happy b/c no one said anything during dinner, they just ate.  It's always nice when they get excited about my cooking. 

The one downer, the clean-up.  Because I haven't learned the ins & outs of my new cook top, I made a little bit of a mess & some elbow grease was required to scrub it all off.  But, you know, I didn't really mind b/c I have enough left overs to serve the pasta as sides for the next few days, or part of lunch, or breakfast if they're moved to have pasta before swim team/golf/football practice.

It was a different kind of meal & I was going to serve it with a salad, but they wanted angel hair shredded cabbage with ranch dressing.  You know as long as they were eating something green I thought that was just fine.  Y'all try to stay cool during these hot days in June. 

Be blessed beyond measure,
~ashley

PS~My baby, Henry, turned 9 Sunday.  Happy Birthday to the cutest little wiggle worm in the world.  I love you Hen. with all my heart.  <3